


My Heart Burns (With The Memories It Holds)

by Kosaji



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Dragons, M/M, Reincarnation, Sky day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-09-13
Packaged: 2019-05-26 04:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14992550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kosaji/pseuds/Kosaji
Summary: Reincarnation sucks, especially when you run into your ex and oops, he still has the hots for you? Former you? Maybe just the memory of you? Either way, Hayato is not going to deal with it. He's here to guard Tsuna and that's it.





	1. Chapter 1

Hayato curses as he jumps through the portal after Tsuna, the little griffon fledgling squealing as he clutches Lambo to his chest. He reaches out and with a burst of fire magic at his back propels himself forward to catch both, tucking and rolling as they land hard on marble floor.

Stars burst in front of his eyes as he lands on his back, Tsuna and Lambo rolling off him, all three panting hard.

“Hayato-kun, are you ok?” Hayato blinks up as Tsuna comes into focus, brown eyes staring at him with worry.

“Fine,” he grunts, pushing up on his elbows and looking around the room. It is more of a center point, a large room with multiple large doorways leading to hallways that led to darkness. Only when the red marble inlaid with gold symbols registers he stiffens, a familiar thrum of magic running through the room and air around him jolting him up, to the surprise of his companions.

“Hayato-kun?”

“We need to leave,” he blurts out, grabbing Lambo by the waist and pulling Tsuna up with one hand. “We need to leave, now.”

Too late.

A roar echoes through the room, bouncing off the walls and rumbling violently through him. Movement from the corner of his eye has him diving forward, knocking Tsuna out of the way of the dragon that shoots out from one of the large arched doorways.

“Who dares intrude upon our realm?” The dragon roars. She, a glance at the horns growing from her forehead, is large, almost reaching the ceiling stretched to her full height. The spikes on her tail gleam in the light as the temperature drops. Ice dragon.

“U-um, we didn’t mean to? We just came here by accident!” Tsuna says, flinching under the red-eyed glare of the dragon.

“There is no way to enter this place without a dragon’s jewel. Who’s did you steal?” The dragon demands, her own jewel, a pale blue diamond glittering around her neck.

Dragon jewels, the magic of a dragon given form. Highly valuable, even if humans can’t use them, and warlocks can only scratch the surface of their power. Every dragon protects their jewel with the same or even more jealousy than they guard their territory or hoard.

“Pretty!” Lambo says, reaching his hand out towards the diamond. “Lambo-san wants the pretty dragon to play with me!”

What he would give to live in such a carefree world, Hayato thinks as the dragon narrows her eyes, a snarl building in her throat.

“Adelheid, wait!” A younger voice calls out. A young dragon skids into the room, nails scratching the floor as it skids to the ice dragon's side.

Red eyes set in a young face, barely more than a hatchling meets Hayato's and his breath catches as memories, ones he tries to hide or forget rise to the surface. He knows that dragon, knows the curve of its brow, the way its tail swishes guilty as the bright red wings shift against his back. Only one breed of dragons has wings like those, especially if they are where Hayato thinks they are. 

"Enma," Hayato breathes out.

Enma and Adelheid both give him sharp looks, Adelheid shoving Enma behind her bulk.

"How do you know that name?" She demands, lowering her jaw closer to the three of them, making Tsuna quail next to him as Lambo shuts up, realizing that this wasn't play time.

"None of your business,” Hayato growls back, not fazed by the show of teeth.

The temperature lowers more and Hayato summons his fire, raising the temperature to match. Adhelide pulls back surprised, but scoffs after reaching out with her own magic.

"A half-breed? That doesn't matter, you still cannot access this realm without permission. If you did not steal a jewel, then whose bidding have you come here on behalf of?”  She says. 

"Um, Adel, about that." Enma says cautiously behind her. Hayato keeps his gaze firmly on Adelheid, ignoring how his soul cries out as Enma stares at him warily, on the space between them.

“Like the heir to the Vongola said,” Hayato doesn’t flinch as Tsuna wails next to him as he reveals his title to the dragons, “we did not come here on purpose. A portal opened up and we entered by accident.”

“A likely tale,” Adelheid says, tossing her head back even as Enma ducks his, bringing his wings closer to his body. 

"Um, Adel..." Enma whispers even as he keeps looking at Hayato, head tilted curiously. Hayato watches him back, drinking him in even as panic spreads like beetles underneath his skin. He isn't ready for this, not ready at all.

"What, Enma?" Adelheid finally snaps, craning her long neck towards the smaller dragon.

"W-well," Hayato can't help but look at Tsuna, Enma sounds just like him, stutter and all and maybe starts to re-think his reasons for guarding the little griffon.

"Kaoru kinda maybe broke something and openedabunchofportals?" Enma mumbles, curling even smaller.

Silence, then.

"YOU DID WHAT!"

Adelheid's roar rattles through the room, the force of it blowing Tsuna and Hayato off their feet.

"That's it, you all are coming with me, my Lord will know how to deal with you," she snaps at the three of them and stomps through one of the hallways.

Enma smiles, or attempts to, his lips pulling back to show sharp teeth. "Sorry about her, she's overprotective."

Good, Hayato thinks, looking over the hunched way Enma walks on all fours, not liking the way his shoulders slouch as he ushers the three of them forward.

"Um, we really didn't mean to intrude..." Tsuna says, ducking his head. Hayato wishes that Tsuna was in his griffon form, if only because staying in their human form while among dragons that can kill them with one stomp makes his stomach churn.

(He hopes Adelheid isn't taking them to who he thinks she is. Enma was enough of a surprise to see, he really isn't ready to see him again.)

Tsuna and Enma chat to fill the silence that falls over them as they walk and walk through the hallways, the magic in them taking them to the center of the keep if he remembers correctly. The room they fell into was one of the nexus points that connects the various rooms and buildings in the keep. No wonder Adelhied is furious, if an intruder gets into one of them then they have free access to pretty much the entire keep.

"...my dad sometime..."

"...yeah, mine doesn't really stick around so Uncle Giotto raised..."

Hayato tunes back into the conversation, pulling his attention from the familiar magic embedded into the walls, resisting the urge to press his own against it, to see if the keep remembers him.

Tsuna and Enma chat as they walk side by side, Enma walking comically slow and Tsuna practically trotting to keep pace with each other. Lambo just laughs from his spot on Enma's back, clinging to a spike as he urges Enma to go faster.

"We're here!" Enma says, "Watch your step-!"

Hayato lunges for Tsuna as he trips over the ledge, dropping into empty space. Wind whips past his ears, blocking out even Tsuna's scream of terror as they fall into a large cavern. Golden wings surround them, flapping wildly to slow their fall as Tsuna transforms into his griffon shape, but he's too small, they are moving too fast and the ground comes up very quickly.

Magic, red, warm, _safe_ surrounds them and they slow to a stop mid-air. The magic pulls them forward, coming to a stop in front of a large dragon with deep red eyes and scales. Enma flies down, apologies on his tongue as he sweeps up next to the adult dragon, the resemblance between the two uncanny.

Hayato straightens up within the confines of the gravity ball and keeps his head down, away from the dragons as he brushes Tsuna down until he calms down and shifts back into his human form. Then, slowly, reluctantly, he turns to face the dragon.

Cozart looks good. Is what he thinks as he stares into his former husband's eyes, memories flitting through his head again, stronger than they have ever been since he was little.

"Lavina?" The name is whispered reverently, as Cozart leans forward to get a closer look.

"Not really," Hayato says, shifting awkwardly in front of that disbelieving stare. "Reincarnation's a bitch."

They are dropped, quickly but gently on the ground and between one second and the next Cozart shifts to his human form and has his arms around Hayato.

He melts. He can't help himself, he knows these arms, knows this scent. The familiar warmth and strength surrounding him, comforting and achingly familiar.

But he also doesn't. Those are the memories of a dead dragon, one he isn't anymore. After a long second Hayato pushes away gently and steps back, looking away from Cozart.

"Lavina-"

"Hayato," he interrupts, and steels himself against the hurt look on Cozart's face as he steps back further, stepping in line with Tsuna. "My name is Hayato. I'm not Lavina anymore."

He puts a hand on Tsuna's shoulder, ignoring the looks Adelheid and Tsuna gives him, **does not** look at his son (not his son) and stares Cozart straight in the eye. "We were brought here by accident and would like to request safe passage back to Cornet Mountains." His voice barely shakes as he makes the request, wincing internally at how he changed cadence and tone to something Lavina Gokudera would say, instead of the rough way he normally talks.

He can see Cozart back down, his eyes growing dim and his heart (its not him its Lavina) aches as Cozart says, formally and according to protocol, "Of course, the fault lies with us that you are here, and so it is our duty to deliver you to your destination safely."

He waves his hand and one of the dragons, Hayato suppresses a jolt when he realizes just how many dragons are present, bends down and deposits a small device, the size of a dinner plate and just as thin into Cozart's hands. He places his other hand over the top of the plate and forces his magic into it before tossing it to the side. The plate flips and comes to a stop yards away from them, the circular face facing them as it grows bigger, and in the center is the clearing they were in just before they fell into the mountains.

"If you step through the portal will lead you to your last location," Cozart says. He gives a shallow bow to the three of them, "I do hope the next time we meet it will be under more auspicious circumstances."

Hayato gives a stiff nod as Tsuna agrees and Lambo cries about playing with the dragons again. He usher the two younger ones towards the portal when Cozart calls out.

"Hayato," He freezes. "What is your full name?"

Hayato's jaw drops and he whirls around at the breach in etiquette. Dragons have two names, one given to them by their parents, the second chosen for themselves. The first is the one known publicly while the second is private, given out by a dragon's discretion.

"Gokudera," Hayato finally says, turning away. He doesn't have to look back to see Cozart's face, he can practically feel the triumph as a surge of interest from the other dragons fills the cavern at the sound of Cozart's former mate's name. Hayato takes the moment to push Lambo and Tsuna through the portal, stepping through just a moment later.

But not before Cozart's words are carried to him by a brush of magic.

'We'll meet again, my dear.'

Hayato narrows his eyes. Not if he could help it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enma gets a chance say hi.

Hayato gives him this- he at least waits until Hayato's alone before revealing himself.

"What do you want, Cozart?"

He laughs, the asshole, before slipping out of the tree he was hiding in. Human form, of course. Even the most uneducated mortal would notice a fully grown dragon running around.

"You look busy, any way I can help?" Cozart strolls up to him, motioning towards the targets in Hayato's arms. Cozart's dressed casually, dark trousers with a light colored shirt and his beanie hat covering his bright red hair.

"It's fine," Hayato says, hefting the target up. He may only be half dragon but it still gives him more strength than a normal mortal. They walk in tense silence, tense for Hayato at least, who keeps trying to walk faster but Cozart keeps pace easily with his long legs.

"Aren't these from G's archery range?" Cozart finally asks, grabbing one target when it slips from Hayato's grip in his attempt to outpace Cozart.

Hayato smirks, selecting a target and fixing it to a tree branch. "It's for Tsuna's training. What he doesn't know won't hurt him." He continues down the line, attaching targets to tree trunks and sturdy branches, ignoring the way Cozart's eyes remain on him at all times.

The last target it set up and Hayato turns to Cozart. "What do you want?"

"So suspicious, darling?" Cozart smiles, eyes half lidded in the way it does when he wants to sweet talk ~~(her)~~ him.

"You have a one track mind," Hayato mutters, turning around and walking away. Louder, he calls back, "I'm not going to date you because we- Lavina- used to be married." He frowns over the slip, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

"You won't even give it a chance?" Hayato jumps when Cozart appears next to him, footsteps completely soundless. He tries to back away but finds one hand caught and brought up to dry lips.

The skin on the back of his fingers tingles as Cozart stares at him with his large eyes, the pupils split into a compass that just magnifies the depth of color and emotion in them.

"One chance, darling, that's all I want," Cozarto breathes over his fingers, making his stomach flutter as heat rises to color his cheeks.

"I-I need to go!" Hayato says, pulling his hand away. He stumbles back and power walks (not runs) to the main training grounds.

He very carefully doesn't look back, even as he feels Cozart's eyes follow him until he disappears past the trees.

-

"Cozart."

Cozart tilts his head to the side to see the Vongola Griffon in all his golden glory drop from the sky. He waits politely for Giotto to land, back legs first then his talons, golden wings folding up against his back as he shifts into his human form. Cozart gives Giotto a minute to straighten his clothes before embracing his brother in all but blood.

"Giotto, it is good to see you." Cozart wishes they could meet more often, but their lives are so busy, and with the attack on the Simon clan sending them into isolation all those years ago it was impossible.

"Same, my friend," Giotto returns the embrace, squeezing just as tightly before releasing him with a rueful look. "I see you've met our Hayato."

A twinge of possessiveness runs through him over Giotto calling Lavina's reincarnation his, but he shrugs it off. More importantly, "You knew about her all along," he says, watching Giotto's face close off. There is regret there, but Cozart isn't interested in that. What he wants to know is why his friend didn't tell him about Lavina.

"Hayato isn't Lavina, Cozart," he knows that, "and we only just got him back, I don't want him to run off again." What.

"What," Cozart says flatly as Giotto looks away sheepishly.

"You didn't know? It's nothing," Giotto tries to brush it off, "Why don't we take a walk?"

"Screw that," Cozart snarls, grabbing Giotto's shoulder to keep him from walking. "What do you mean, run off? You LOST my WIFE?"

Giotto's expression sharpens and he pulls his own power to the surface, the heat of the magical flame the Vongola are famous for leaking into his voice. "Hayato is his own person, Cozart. He isn't Lavina, despite having her memories."

"I know that,” Cozart snaps, looking away from Giotto's golden eyes. "It doesn't matter I just-"

Want to see his wife again, Cozart's shoulders slump, the faint rumbling of the earth stilling as he calms down. "I miss her."

Giotto puts his hand on his shoulder, squeezing tightly, not saying anything. Giotto's wife had passed long ago, and only in the last century did he move on. Griffons and

Dragons both mate for life, if anyone can understand his pain it is him.

"I know you do but right now isn't the best time to seek him out, not when all you see is Lavina when you look at Hayato," Giotto says softly.

Reluctantly he agrees, walking with Giotto towards his home just to catch up before Cozart flies back to his keep.

So of course that's when the dead bodies start appearing.

Giotto takes one look at the skeleton rising from the ground and screams. He also sets it on fire but Cozart is a little preoccupied with getting his hearing back.

"What the hell was that!" Cozart says, crushing another skeleton to the ground. Giotto starts to answer but they are interrupted by another scream from the distance.

"Tsuna," Giotto shouts, shifting into his griffon form and flying away. Wait, wasn't Hayato heading over there?

Cozart pales and shifts form, wings beating as he launches himself into the air, quickly catching up to and keeping pace with Giotto. When they get to the clearing where Giotto's heir and Hayato are however...

"Oh my god, kill it, kill it!" Little Tsunayoshi in his griffon form throws fire at a skeleton even as he flies away, keeping to the clearing and blocking the dead from the small lightning child and baby silver dragon behind him. Next to him a boy laughs, swinging a sword that gives Cozart pause with ease, slicing through bone and rotting flesh.

But what captures Cozart's attention is Hayato, who isn't defending the children like he thought, isn't staying behind a defensive wall to pick off any skeletons that get close like Lavina prefers. No.

Hayato is in the thick of it all, fighting adjacent to a Tengu, feathers and flame flying everywhere as skeletons literally explodes under Hayato's power.

"What the hell?" Cozart says as Hayato melts one skeleton, throwing a small round object at a group heading too close to Tsunayoshi. The bomb, because it can only be a bomb, detonates and takes out the skeletons with prejudice, the flames dissipating only when charred bones remain. Cozart can only gape as the youngsters finish taking out the skeletons, leaving the formerly peaceful clearing full of bone and ash.

"Reborn!" Tsunayoshi whines. "What did you do that for?"

There is faint shiver inducing laughter as the shadows writhe, and a figure, barely the size of a human toddler steps out. "Defeating the undead is good practice in exorcising misbehaving spirits, Tsuna."

That was Reborn. The infamous chaos spirit Reborn. Cozart turns to Giotto, "You hired REBORN to teach your heir?"

Giotto angles his wings down, landing away from the clearing before the young ones notice them though he does notice Reborn's eyes on him as Cozart follows, his head hurting from all the revelations.

"To be fair, it was Tsunayoshi's father who hired him, I merely kept him on due to his positive influence on Tsunayoshi," Giotto says the minute they are on the ground.

"You have a **CHAOS DEMON** teaching your heir," Cozart says, wondering if he is losing his mind. Maybe the world just stopped making sense the minute he ordered his clan into isolation.

"He's very good at his job?" Giotto points out weakly. "Dino Cavallone has come a long way since Reborn took him under his wing."

Cozart pauses to think why that name is so familiar. "Cavallone? Poseidon's brat?" It's hard to forget Poseidon's demigod son who recently attained status as a minor god.

Giotto beams at him, "I'm glad you remember him! He was just a baby when you were still around. He and Tsuna get along pretty well," Giotto says, a fond twinkle appearing in his eyes as he talks about his heir. Cozart doesn't blame him, his advisers gives him enough grief with the way he keeps talking about his own kids.

"Giotto?"

Cozart and Giotto turn to where Tsunayoshi stands, Hayato right behind him holding a stick of dynamite in one hand, the other holding the lightning child off the ground by his pants.

"Hayato!" Cozart beams even as Hayato glares at him. "That was excellent work on the revenants." Hayato blushes a lovely shade of pink and looks away with a scoff but Cozart is undeterred. "Have yo-"

He yelps as Giotto's elbow knocks into his stomach, leaving him bent over in pain. He hears Giotto praising Tsunayoshi and sending the youngsters back to Giotto's home and grumbles about meddling bird brained idiots.

"Seriously, my friend. I did just tell you to give him time," Giotto is entirely unsympathetic, in his opinion.

"I waited a week," Cozart says. Even waiting that long, arguing with his subordinates and organizing the security of the Keep in his absence, felt like eternity. And now he's being told to wait again.

"Just," Giotto sighs, setting a comforting hand on Cozart's shoulder. "Just go slow? If you think you can be happy with him then I will support you but you need to do this carefully." Blue eyes bore into his with a firm look and Cozart nods reluctantly.

"Till next week then," he says and shifts forms, launching into the air with Giotto's shouts about being too soon lost in the wind.

 

* * *

  
It's been a week since Reborn decided to pull up dead bodies as target practice when the castle gets another visitor.

"Enma!" Tsuna cries out, practically jumping out the window. Hayato grabs him by the back of his shirt. Ability to fly or not, he wasn't going to chance it. With a sheepish laugh Tsuna waves down to the dragon standing in human form at the castle gates.

Giotto's Enclave isn't really a castle, more like a manor but tucked away in the mountains away from the majority of human civilization. Somehow an entrepreneuring soul long ago managed to get through the protections and catch a glimpse of the manor, calling it a castle in the sky.

The myth grew in popularity with the humans, and every now and again Hayato makes a trip to see if a group of adventurers were planning on making the hike and scare them away.

Or a group of drunks, Hayato thinks, following at a sedate pace behind Tsuna as he hurries down the staircase to the main entrance.

He doesn't know what to think of Enma's appearance. He knows that the Simon clan barricaded themselves away into their mountains years ago from Lord Giotto, but he never found the reason why. Just meeting a new friend isn't enough of a reason for Cozart's heir to leave the safety of the mountain.

Enma looks up at them from the entrance hall, dressed in clothes that would be out of date in the human world but fit in here, where almost everyone is older than dirt and with the same fashion sense.

"Enma, hi!" Tsuna says, skidding to a stop in front of the dragon. Hayato hangs back, by the staircase as Tsuna stutters his way through the formal greeting to welcome a person into his home.

Enma looks good, Hayato thinks, leaning back against the staircase. His shoulders still have slump in them that makes Hayato want to yell at him to straighten out and there's a new healing cut over his nose and on the knuckles of his fists but Enma has always been clumsy. Even when he was a hatchling, tripping over his _(not his dammit, her)_ claws.

"It's good to see you," he hears Enma say as he and Tsuna walk closer. Their eyes meet briefly, Enma curious and hesitant while Hayato tries his best not to lunge for his ~~_(her)_ ~~ kid.

"Um, Tsuna, do you mind if I talk to Hayato for a minute?" Enma asks and Hayato loses the hope that he would let the issue go. Tsuna hesitates, looking at Hayato and back at Enma and Hayato lets out a sighs, walking towards the two. Like father like son, he thinks wryly, motioning over to a hallway that leads out to the garden where they will get some privacy.

Enma is silent on the walk over, and keeps sneaking looks at him. Hayato knows because he also keeps looking back at Enma when the boy doesn’t think he's looking. They make it into a small garden maze, traveling inside to one of the gazebos before Hayato turns to face Enma.

"You wanted to talk?" He makes his voice rough, steeling himself against the uncertain look on Enma's face.

The dragon takes a deep breath, his hands shoved inside his pockets and shoulders by his ears. "Um, are you actually-?" he trails off, looking away as he mumbles the rest of his question. Hayato doesn't bother demanding him to repeat himself, he can already guess what this visit is about.

"Reincarnation doesn't mean the same person comes back, it's just the soul," Hayato says, hoping Enma won't ask.

"But you remember, don't you? You wouldn't have talked to Father like that if you didn't," Enma probes, and Hayato grimaces.

"Yeah I remember."

Hayato doesn't say anything else, because what can he say really? Sorry kid I'm not your mom? A stab of pain pierces his heart at the thought. Even if he's a different person, he still remembers. Remembers carrying Enma and Mami, remembers curling around his nest and waiting for them to hatch.

Remembers the pride and joy when first Enma then a few years later Mami shattered their shells to tumble out into the world.

"I know you're not my mom."

Hayato blinks. Enma is looking him in the eye, face set in a serious expression. He looks so much like Cozart with that look in his eyes.

"...alright," Hayato says, turning away when Enma doesn't say anything else. That was easy.

"But-"

And there's the but, Hayato thinks, turning back around. "What?"

Enma flinches at his bark but rallies himself. "Father doesn't talk. About you, I mean, Mom." Hayato stares impassively as Enma struggles with his words. "I just- You have her memories right? Could you tell me about her?"

The wind sweeps over them, blowing petals through the air between them and all Hayato can see is Enma as a hatchling, trailing after him _~~(her)~~_ and stumbling over thin air. Enma with his tail clutched in his mouth, beaming up at him ~~_(her)_~~ , Enma shifting into his human form for the first time and wailing at how strange the world is through weak mortal eyes.

Enma, who's looking at him with those same watery eyes, even as he stands tall, braced for whatever decision Hayato makes.

Hayato breathes out heavily through his nose, shoulders slumping. "Yeah, alright," he says, and tries not to smile as Enma sighs in relief, slouching again. Speaking of which...

"Stand up straight, I didn't teach you to slouch like that," Hayato snaps and brushes past him back to the castle. It's only when he's facing away from Enma that he smiles, just an upturn of his lips as Enma makes a noise of complaint that's quickly stifled with a backwards glare.  
Maybe this will be okay.

 

* * *

  
He takes it back.

"So then Hayato decides to set explosives all over the front lawn as a trap, only I was out for a training trip so-"

Hayato glares as Yamamoto regales his audience with embarrassing stories of his escapades. Stories that he can't refute because they were all true.

Underneath the cool shade of Yamamoto's favorite fountain Enma sits with Tsuna, smiling as Yamamto gestures and makes nonsensical sound effects to make up for him crappy storytelling.

Beside them, giggling away is his daughter, because Enma can be too much like his father at times, pressing forward the minute he thinks he has an opening.

You agreed to this, Hayato reminds himself as he fingers a bomb at his belt. You didn't have to let them into the house.

Lord Giotto was pretty adamant about that, for some reason. Hayato thinks back to the quick conversation they had before breakfast. Hayato had been nervous, thinking something was wrong but all he wanted to talk about was Cozart and Enma and how he didn't have to talk with them if he didn't want to.

Strange of Lord Giotto to bring it up but Hayato appreciates the thought.

"-and then pow, nyoom! He went like that, so that's how we got the ground for our orchard set up!" Yamamto leans back on his haunches, and Hayato can almost see a tail wagging behind him. Stupid hainu. "Any questions?"

"I don't get it," Mami says after a beat. Hayato groans and hides his face as Yamamoto's smile falters and he starts the story over again. She gets it, she totally gets it, she just likes annoying people more.

(Its nice to know some things haven't changed)


End file.
